Tasty Treats as Teaching Tools!

As I looked back over the photos I'd taken in my classroom over the past months, I noticed that in a few of our activities there was a common theme... FOOD!  I'm not sure about you, but I know that when I need my kidlets to practise something they are finding tricky, or I need to 'hook' them into a new topic, one of the most effective teaching tools is food.  They get so excited at the thought of a tasty treat, no matter how small, and they will talk about an activity involving food long after some other lessons have been forgotten.

This week the kidlets made tuna and cucumber sushi, gobbled it up and then asked for more.  I know, I know... using food to teach about healthy eating isn't anything new! But I'm always amazed at the variety of new foods that my class will try when they have grown it or made it themselves.  One of my boys who refused to eat vegetables for his mum now loves them after a positive encounter with a green quiche at school.  Lots of children don't get the education they need about healthy eating at home, so why not take the opportunity when we can to teach them in the classroom?

While working with me in Maths Time recently, each group got a chance to count and eat some tiny teddy cookies as part of our work on subtraction concepts.  They wrote a number story (I had ___ tiny teddies.  I ate ___. I have ___ left.) and subtraction sentence and then got to eat the teddies they had left.  

Sometimes food is just a treat! After doing lots of reading and writing activities based on Dr. Seuss' The Lorax (I shared some photos of our cute crafts here) we spent some time Friday afternoon watching the movie.  As a reward for a week of wonderful work, I gave my kidlets some popcorn and juice while they relaxed.

Making a tasty treat is also a perfect activity to add to your phonics teaching!  It's now November, and there are often nostalgic conversations about 'that time we made Bears in Bubble Baths' or 'remember when we ate Worms in Mud?' - we did those activities at the beginning of the year! :)

'Worms in Mud' (gummy worms and chocolate yoghurt) for the week we learnt 'w' and 'm'.

'Bears in Bubble Baths' (a chocolate and teddy cookie with mini marshmallows) for 'b' week.

Fruit Loops lend themselves to sorting and patterning work in Maths.  This pin links here - with a freebie recording sheet.  I've also seen ideas to thread them on string to make a pattern bracelet.

When we studied the Seasons, we drank hot chocolate in gloves, scarves and beanies (with the air con turned down super low, it doesn't get that cold here in Queensland!).  That was a great way to get their little minds thinking about all they knew about Winter.  We made an anchor chart as we sipped our drinks. (No photos of that, sorry!)

All this talk of food has made me hungry!  I guess that must mean it's time for dinner.  I hope you found one or two new ideas in this post, or maybe were reminded of an old one.  Have fun using food in your classroom! :)

Lauren